UnidosUS Launches HOME Initiative in Houston to Advance Latino Homeownership

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The HOME initiative aims to create 4 million new homeowners nationwide by 2030 

Pictured left to right: Dr. Dan Potter, Senior Director of Research at Rice University’s Kinder Institute for Urban Research, Jason P. Riverio Riveiro, Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer at the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals, Laura Arce, Senior Vice President at UnidosUS, Maria Vergara, Head of Diverse Segments for Retail Home Lending at Wells Fargo, and Cedric LaSane, Assistant Director Single Family Operations at the City of Houston.

Houston, TX – August 3, 2023 – On Saturday, July 15, 2023, UnidosUS unveiled the HOME (Home Ownership Means Equity) initiative in Houston during a roundtable discussion at the Advancing Home Ownership Fair at Houston Community College. The conversation included representatives from the public, private, and social sectors who came together to discuss the importance of expanding Latino homeownership in Houston and throughout the country.  

Houston is one of the first of five preliminary market launches for the HOME initiative. Through cross-sector partnerships, the marquee program will help Houston Latinos create pathways to homeownership, build their credit, afford a down payment, overcome language barriers, avoid predatory lending, and get approved for sustainable mortgages.  

As part of the program, the Tejano Center for Community Concerns (Tejano Center), a UnidosUS Affiliate, has been chosen to support several elements of HOME in Houston. The work will be fueled by approximately $75,000 in grants this year to support counseling programs that will help mortgage-ready Latinos overcome obstacles when trying to purchase a home. Additionally, SERJobs, a Houston-based Affiliate and member of UnidosUS’s existing Wealth and Homeownership Alliance and Financial Empowerment Network, will receive $20,000 in grants this year to advance financial coaching services to help prospective Latino homeowners build credit, buy a home, and more.  

“Houston’s large and growing Latino population and favorable housing market conditions make for a promising testing ground to pilot solutions that could help us create four million new Latino homeowners across the country by 2030,” said Laura Arce, SVP for Economic Initiatives at UnidosUS. “The city of Houston affords opportunities that will allow us to test and perfect a model that we can execute in even more places over time. We’re excited to work in partnership with our local Affiliates, the Tejano Center for Community Concerns and SERJobs to catalyze Latino homeownership and boost economic mobility for Houston’s Hispanic community.” 

The special roundtable discussion was kicked off with remarks by Ramiro Fonesca of the Tejano Center. Speakers covered the policy framework and systemic change needed to create an equitable ecosystem to promote Latino homeownership and HOME’s role in accelerating those opportunities to encourage Latino wealth-building and economic development in Houston and the broader U.S. economy. The discussion was moderated by Dr. Dan Potter, Rice University, Senior Director of Research at the Kinder Institute for Urban Research, and included four panelists:  

  • Laura Arce – Senior Vice President for Economic Initiatives, UnidosUS 
  • Jason P. Riveiro – Executive Director, National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals (NAHREP) 
  • Maria Vergara – Senior Vice President and Head of Diverse Segments, Wells Fargo 
  • Cedric LaSane – Deputy Assistant Director of Housing and Community Development Department, City of Houston 

Houston presents a promising housing market for Latinos: 

  • According to NAHREP’s 2022 State of Hispanic Homeownership Report, the state of Texas continues to be home to the nation’s top opportunity markets for new Latino homebuyers. Additionally, Houston was the third highest-ranking market that added the greatest number of new Latino homeowners over the last two years (adding a net total of nearly 60,000 of homeowner households in the last two years).  
  • That said, although homeownership rates ticked up in each of Greater Houston’s three counties in the pandemic’s immediate aftermath, they remain flat from a decade ago and disproportionately low among low-income and non-white households. According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, in 2021, nearly 60% of occupied housing units in Houston’s three-county area were occupied by homeowners and 40% were occupied by renters. The Houston region’s homeownership rate was below the state (63%) and national (65%) rate.  
  • The Kinder Institute’s 2022 State of Housing in Harris County and Houston report demonstrates a rapidly changing housing environment in Houston and Harris County. Local housing prices have skyrocketed, the demand for single-family homes is driving up prices and keeping inventory low. Despite the growth in new construction permits, developers are unable to fully respond to high housing demand because of construction costs and supply-chain problems.  
  • Additionally, Hispanic mortgage applicants face high interest rates and more denials on lower-valued properties. Research shows that banks deny home loans from Hispanic applicants at four times the rate of white applicants in the greater Houston region. In 2020, 23% of Hispanic applicants were denied home loans compared with 8% of white applicants. Further, the home loans that were approved for Hispanic applicants were more likely to have unfavorable terms, including higher interest rates, higher loan-to-value ratio, and longer loan terms. They are also far more likely to be heavily debt-burdened borrowers (2022 State of Housing in Harris County and Houston report).  
  • Despite discrimination and affordability challenges in the mortgage market, Hispanics were the only major racial/ethnic group with a growing homeownership rate in both Houston and the U.S. between 2020 and 2021, ensuring Hispanic residents will soon become the largest share of homebuyers in the county (2022 State of Housing in Harris County and Houston report).   

The local rollout of HOME in Houston comes on the heels of the national campaign introduced in June to influence systemic change and catalyze the creation of four million new Latino homeowners nationwide by 2030. Through the new national movement, UnidosUS is investing in a cohort of five initial cities slated to receive targeted grants through the HOMEownership Solutions Network to fund consumer housing counseling programs. Each community selected as part of the first cohort of the HOMEownership Solutions Network has a high Latino population, experienced UnidosUS Affiliate partners, and favorable market conditions, such as tremendous housing opportunities for prospective Hispanic homebuyers and builders to pilot scalable strategies that could increase Latino homeownership rates. In addition to Houston, the first cohort also includes Chicago, IL; Orlando, FL; Phoenix, AZ; and Stockton, CA. 

More information on the HOME initiative is available here: https://unidosus.org/homeownership/. 

About the HOME (Home Ownership Means Equity) Initiative 

HOME (Home Ownership Means Equity) is UnidosUS’s new national initiative that seeks to influence systemic change and catalyze the creation of four million new Latino homeowners by 2030. Through cross-sector partnership, HOME will break down multifaceted challenges Latinos face when trying to buy a home by expanding market opportunities and helping mortgage-ready Latinos create pathways to build their credit, afford a down payment, overcome language barriers, avoid predatory lending, and get approved for a sustainable mortgage. For more information, visit www.unidosus.org/homeownership.